New Delhi: National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in partnership with Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) conducts a two-day meeting on the assessment and management of glacial risks, particularly glacial lake outburst floods(GLOGs).
GLOFs, which refers to the sudden discharge of a water reservoir, is at an alarming rate across the Indian Himalayan Region. The region is particularly sensitive to changes in global climate, and there is an immediate need for the assessment and management of glacial hazards to be mainstreamed into significant policies.
Places like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh are the most vulnerable States to glacial hazards. The purpose of the workshop was to bring all national and international experts on the same platform.
While emphasising on coordinated and collaborative top-down approach amongst all stakeholders to deal with emerging risks, Lt. Gen. N.C. Marwah(Retd), Member, NDMA said, “The fragile mountain ecosystem in the Indian Himalayan Region is under tremendous stress of climate change and land use degradation”.
The technical sessions at the workshop established the context and priorities besides discussing specific case studies and experiences in managing glacial hazards from Central Asia, Caucasus and the various Indian States.
Deliberations on Day 2 will lead to the identification of key messages and the way forward. Members and senior officials of NDMA, representatives from the SDC, State Governments, national as well as international academic institutions and other stakeholders participated in the workshop.
